General 'Thunderstone' Brug

After having his personal pyg tank stolen by the thieving duo of Ledfoot & Tredz, the self-titled General "Thunderstone" Brug persuaded enough of his brethren to form a small army (is that a height joke?) and go get his property back! What Brug lacks in size and martial prowess, he makes up for with legitimate tactical genius and guile. With enough willing soldiers at his command, there aren't many tasks Brug can't accomplish. As for the few that are beyond his means, well...he'll just bury them in ordinance.

Basic Info

Abilities

• Template:Advance Deployment
• Template:Gunfighter
• Template:Pathfinder
• Template:Tough
• Template:Battle Plan
  • Template:Get Down!
  • Template:Marching Orders
  • Template:Target Acquired
• Template:Dig In
• Template:Tactician
• Template:Veteran Leader

Weapons

Grenade
File:Gun icon.jpg		RNG			ROF			AOE			POW
		6			1			3			12
Heavy Pistol
File:Gun icon.jpg		RNG			ROF			AOE			POW
		8			1			Template:-			12

Theme Forces

• Trollbloods
  • Template:Kriel Company. This model gains Mark Target in this theme
  • Template:Vengeance of Dhunia

• Other Factions
  • Minion players can also use this unit in the Vengeance of Dhunia theme.

Thoughts on Template:Pagename

Template:Pagename in a nutshell

Do you like Pygs? Do you want Pygs to be even better? If you are a Trollbloods player and answered yes to either of these questions, I recommend picking up Brug for your army. Brug is a Pyg support solo that provides a variety of passive and active buffs.

First up, Tactician [Pyg] and Veteran Leader [Pyg] are both straightforward abilities that will help out every Pyg in your army within 10˝ of Brug. His personal defensive stats aren’t great, so try to Dig In each turn unless you REALLY need Brug to shoot something. Remember, he can use his Battle Plan and still Dig In, so you aren’t losing any of his effectiveness as you move him into the perfect position.

Brug’s three Battle Plans options offer some compelling options for your warrior models...

1) Get Down! - specifically targets Pygs ONLY Dig In, and then yell a plan out to some other Pygs. Pyg Bushwhackers have the longest range and are the best recipients for this buff in the early turns.

2) Marching Orders - a weak threat extending bubble that works well with other speed buffs but isn’t much to write home about on its own and can be tricky to use well turn 1 as you would need to keep him within 5 of your models with AD and 5 of the back line models (likely the Krielstone) that you also want to give the buff too.

3) Target Acquired - Requires a little bit of set up as the target needs to aim to get eyeless sight and the damage buff but on a long range unit or warlock (like Gunnbjorn or Hunters Grim it is amazing.

You are most likely using Marching Orders for the extra SPD turn 1. To maximise this effect activate the general first use the battle plan, activate the rest of the models in range that will get the bonus then have Ledfoot & Tredz move the general into range of other models (tactician helps with this)

Starting as early as the second turn of the game, you’ll often find yourself trying to decide between using Get Down! or Target Acquired and it really comes down to what your opponent is bringing to bear against you. Having your Bushwackers use Slip Away to break free of the enemy, get some shots in, and then Dig In during Brug’s activation can be fantastic. Also, causing one of the Pyg Tanks to Dig In is always good fun.

But maybe you find yourself in a situation where you must have Brug activate before another model/unit, or perhaps you need your warlock to land a clutch spell (such as Mortality) or shoot with an empowered shot (or both) Target Acquired is your most tactically strategic plan.

Combos & Synergies

• Grim2 and Gunnbjorn1 - If you want to make use of Target Aquired you will want to do it with long range guns so forfeiting your movement doesn't bother the shooters. Grimm and Bjorn both hand out Snipe for extra range.
• Jarl Skuld lacks a damage buff but has 2 great pistols he wants to use as much as possible - sometimes with magic bullet.
• Trollkin Sluggers become a huge threat under Target Aquired
• Pyg Bushwhackers - With the Speed buff and snipe from Hunters Grim or Gunnbjorn1 some of the unit can shoot into the enemy deployment zone turn one. Hunters Grim also get the benefit of the Veteran leader bonus (not Grim himself). A two man CRA will also be RAT 9, POW 14, RNG 18 with a re-roll in this case.
• A Pyg Tank or Ledfoot & Tredz are among the best pyg models and love dig in or extra speed. Ledfoot can also pull Brug forward with Ride By if you need to get into a better position.
• Pyg Lookouts and Pyg Burrowers will often be too far up the field to buff with battle plans. But if they survive/ hide for long enough they are valid targets. That being said, if you chose not to ambush the lookouts they will very much appreciate the speed buff to get into Mark Target range.
• Battle Plans can be stacked with Fell Calls Boomhowler2 can offer reposition to a unit that needs to aim and the Fell Caller Hero can stand up knocked down models so more get a chance to aim. Battle Plans can also stack with the Stories of the chronicler - but you would need to play out of theme so this is a bit of a moot point.
• Trollkin Barrage Team - With the longest ranged weapons in the faction on a unit, they make excellent use of Target Aquired.

Drawbacks & Downsides

• No melee weapon, which is a weakness if he ends up in melee with someone immune to ranged attacks.
• Support bloat. Among Fell Callers and Kriel stone the faction is already chalk full of support models who do little work themselves
• Units like Pyg Burrowers are very likely to be out of his command.
• if he isn’t dug in his defensive stats will not save him from even the lightest ranged weapons
• Most Pyg units are regarded as ok or subpar and a lot of his kit is based around them.
• He promotes a rather static play style, as both Dig In and Deadly Precision need you to stand still to get the benefit this isn’t bad, but it is a bit boring
• He takes most troll ranged infantry from "okay" to "good". This paints a massive target on his head and your opponent will try to remove him ASAP.

Tricks & Tips

• Dig in only expires if you move or are engaged, once a long ranged unit (Such as sniped Bushwhackers) has found a suitable spot on the table and are dug in, you can focus on other units, or other buffs
• Get into a good position dig in - then use battle plans and pop shot with both ranged weapons if you can otherwise dig back in again.
• A models does not need a ranged weapon to aim. Meaning you can give e.g. your walock Target Acquired, give up their movement and use the Eyeless Sight part of the order to ignore stealth and clouds when slinging spells (just note they wont get the + 2 POW nor +2 to attack rolls with them).

Other

Trivia

• Released 2020.06
• General Thaddeus E. "Thunderbolt" Ross is a Marvel Comics character who may have been an inspiration.